The National Lawyers Guild is hosting a press conference before a federal court hearing in which the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan will decide on a motion calling for her recusal from the case of Jeremy Hammond.

Lawyers for accused hacker Jeremy Hammond plan to file a motion next week asking the federal judge in the case to recuse herself; but Hammond's supporters are already calling for her removal from the case.

Journalists, lawyers and human rights advocates gathered Thursday in front of the federal courthouse in New York City where Jeremy Hammond is to stand trial, demanding that Chief US District Court Judge Loretta Preska recuse herself, following recent revelations that her husband was a victim in the expansive computer hacking incident.